Maya: Good morning, north coast. It is Monday, October fifth, twenty twenty-six, and this is your tides and fishing briefing for Point Reyes, Tomales Bay, and Bodega Bay. I am Maya.
Devon: And I am Devon. The coffee is hot, the boats are stirring, and we have your whole day on the water, from the tides to the bite to the stars tonight.
Devon: The tides first. Everything is running in the normal range, with no above-normal tides anywhere today.
Maya: On the open ocean at Point Reyes, low water at one eighteen A M, just below zero. A morning high of four point seven two feet at eight twenty-three A M, an afternoon low of two point nine three feet at one twenty-four P M, and the evening high of five point five six feet at seven oh four P M.
Devon: In Tomales Bay, using Inverness as the reference, low at two fifty A M, just below zero. High at nine thirty-three A M, four point six six feet. Low again at three eleven P M, two point five one feet, and the evening high at eight eighteen P M, five point two six feet.
Maya: At the Bodega Harbor entrance, low at one twenty-six A M, right around zero. High at eight twenty-six A M, four point seven six feet. Low at one forty-seven P M, two point eight five feet, and the day's high of five point four zero feet at seven eleven P M.
Devon: Tomorrow runs about an hour later and looks nearly identical, topping out at five point five five feet at Point Reyes, five point two five in Tomales Bay, and five point three nine at Bodega Harbor. Nothing near the seven foot flag.
Maya: Now the fishing, starting with yesterday's real numbers. The Surf Scooter, running a full day out of the Bodega Bay Sportfishing Center, put seventeen anglers on limits of rockfish, one hundred seventy fish, plus thirty-four lingcod up to twenty-five pounds. Salmon are still the headline offshore, from Fish Sniffer's September twenty-seventh report. King salmon limits in sixty to two hundred feet of water around Bird Rock, Elephant Rock, and Bodega Head, most boats trolling thirty to forty-five feet down on watermelon flashers, blue hoochies, and anchovies. The bite runs fast early and slows by midday.
Devon: The reefs are just as generous, with fast limits of lingcod and rockfish in sixty-five to one hundred eighty feet on sand dabs, swimbaits, and flies tipped with squid. And a fun one from mid-September, two anglers out of Lawsons Landing kept ten bonito between eight and twelve pounds on Mad Macks and released at least that many. Two honest notes. No fresh salmon counts have come off the Bodega party boats in the last couple of days, and nobody is reporting halibut or Dungeness crab, with crab season still closed until November. Tomales Bay gave us no fresh counts, but that sheltered water is classic fall halibut and leopard shark territory. With the ocean this calm, the open water gets the nod.
Maya: The marine weather decides whether the small boats go, and today it is a go. Noah's coastal forecast for Point Arena to Point Reyes carries no warnings, no small craft advisory, no gale warning. Northwest wind five to ten knots, seas three to four feet, a northwest swell of three feet at eight seconds with a little southwest two-footer mixed in. About as friendly as the north coast gets in October.
Devon: Monday night the seas come up to four to five feet and hold through Tuesday. One heads-up for later in the week. Friday the outer waters build to eight to ten feet with winds to thirty knots. A Friday problem, not a Monday problem. And the Bodega bar. With seas at three to four feet the entrance is workable, but the bar is the bar. Cross near the flood, watch the ebb, and if the breakers are standing up on the entrance, wait it out.
Maya: And now the night shift, the stars over the water. The moon is a thin waning crescent, only about a quarter lit, and it does not rise until around one thirty-nine A M. The evening sky belongs to the stars. The Summer Triangle sits overhead early, Vega, Deneb, and Altair. The Great Square of Pegasus climbs in the southeast, Cassiopeia's W rises in the northeast, and the Milky Way runs through Cygnus straight above you. Saturn is the showpiece, up all evening in the southeast, near its best of the whole year. Before dawn, Jupiter climbs in the east.
Devon: The forecast calls for mostly clear to partly cloudy skies, so the stars should show through the breaks. The marine layer can sneak in after midnight, that is October on this coast, but there is no fog advisory tonight. Bring a jacket, it drops into the upper fifties. And for the patient ones, tonight is the peak of the October Camelopardalids, a little meteor shower. A trickle, not a storm, but one bright streak over dark water is worth staying up for.
Maya: That is your Monday on the north coast. Normal tides, calm seas, fish in the picture, and a dark starry evening to fish under. We are back tomorrow at two A M. Tight lines, and mind the bar.